Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A diner classic and a southern favorite, seasoned ground beef patties cooked with caramelized onion and gravy is a belly-pleaser.

Hamburger Steak with Creamy Onion Gravy

Hamburger steak should be in everybody's go-to recipe box and this recipe is a perfect combination of flavors. It always gets a boatload of compliments, and isn't that what we're all after in this anyway?

It's a common Southern meal because it's fast and easy and a super delicious comfort food when you put an onion gravy in the mix. The patties are tossed with a bit of chopped onion, simple seasonings, but unlike it's kissin' cousin salisbury steak, the only binder in hamburger steaks should be egg, no bread. Now... that said, I won't be mad at ya if you find that your meat needs a little binder. Use only enough bread crumbs to hold it together though.

By the way if you're short on time or energy, and you have pre-made burger patties on hand, they make a perfectly acceptable stand-in for a speedy transition to dinnertime during the week. Just omit the onion, egg and hot sauce and season the patties.

Then dip each patty into 1/3 cup of flour.

And brown them on both sides in a skillet with a couple tablespoons of hot oil.

Remove and set aside.

Slice up an onion...

...and toss those into the same skillet you cooked the patties in.

While the onions are cooking, mix together 1 cup of beef broth and 1 cup of water, or just use 2 cups of water alone, with some seasoned salt and pepper. Add 1/4 cup of flour to the seasoned water and whisk that all together well. I like to add a bit of Worcestershire sauce and Kitchen Bouquet too, although neither is necessary if they aren't pantry staples in your house. Slowly add the mixture to the onions...

...and start stirring it up. Cook and stir the mixture and bring it up to a boil. Keep stirring until you see it begin to thicken.

Return the browned patties to the skillet, right into that mess o'gravy, turn 'em and and push 'em around a bit so that some of the gravy goodness seeps right up on top.

Reduce the heat to simmer, cover them bad boys and let 'em cook for another 20 minutes or so.

Heat the cooking oil over medium high in a large heavy-bottomed stainless skillet. In a medium sized bowl, gently combine the ground chuck, chopped onion, egg, hot sauce, seasoned salt, garlic powder and pepper. Shape into 4 to 6 equal sized patties. Dip each patty into the flour and cook until browned on both sides; remove and set those aside.

Add the sliced onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until lightly caramelized, stirring regularly. Whisk together the beef broth, water, 1/4 cup of flour, seasoned salt, pepper, and the Worcestershire and Kitchen Bouquet, if using, until well combined. Pour into the skillet with the onions and stir constantly, until mixture begins to thicken.

Return the hamburger steaks to the skillet, turn to coat, add sliced mushrooms if using, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook, covered, for about 20 minutes longer. Serve with mashed potatoes and some green beans, or a mixed garden salad on the side.

Cook's Notes: The brown gravy for these is pretty good all on its own since its reliant on the pan drippings, but if you have it, just that little bit of Worcestershire and Kitchen Bouquet adds a bit more depth and is delicious. If you find that you need a binder, add in a small amount of fresh bread crumbs to the ground beef. If using pre-made hamburger steak patties, omit the onion, egg and hot sauce, and sprinkle both sides of the patties with the seasoned salt, garlic powder and pepper, pressing in the seasoning a bit. Then dip each patty in the flour and proceed with the remaining recipe.

Note:Tiger Sauce is a type of sweet and sour hot sauce found in the condiment shelf of your store. Regular hot sauce can be substituted, or simply omit.

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Hi Shae! Tiger sauce is a sort of sweet and sour hot sauce. You can substitute regular hot sauce, or just omit it if you like. Sorry about that! I usually put up a link to Amazon just so folks can see what it is, but forgot to.

Shae, it'll be good without it, just substitute a little of that Slap Ya Mama and you'll be good to go! I love the Tiger Sauce because it's got that spicy sweet element to it. I'm so glad you got some SYM!! Now do you see why I love it in everything???!

Awww Roz... hey you reminded me, I don't think that I have put my Salisbury steak up yet! I haven't gotten around to redoing the buttons, but will be glad to reciprocate - thanks.

You may also use regular premade hamburger patties! You probably missed it, but up in the first paragraph of my post I wrote "This recipe uses fresh ground chuck to form into the hamburger patties, but certainly pre-made hamburger steak patties, would make an easy go of this dish, and for a speedy transition to dinnertime during the week." That applies to regular packaged hamburgers also. Directions on how to adjust for seasonings is also included in the recipe text.

Mary, I tried this yummy-sounding recipe last night. LOVED IT!!! It was wonderful with mashed potatoes, and steamed squash, zuchini, carrots and onions. Funny thing: I was cleaning up the kitchen counter while the steaks simmered, and found the egg hiding behind a jar - so it never made it into the meat mixture. It was still good, though!

Hi Sunni - it's just a more coarse salt than table salt - just salt to taste. Any seasoning measurements that I give on my site are suggestions really, so just use some, then taste & add more if needed.

Just made this - it was DELICIOUS! Perfectly seasoned. I didn't have Tiger sauce (never heard of it) so I used sweet chili sauce (which looks like the asian sweet and sour sauce with bits of peppers, etc). I put this over white rice with corn and Bahamian Johnny Cake (I'm Bahamian) - man this was great thank you. If you think it's like a hamburger without the fixins, sittin in gravy - it's NOT. It really is a hamburger steak. A great way to use ground beef. I made them big (with and about 1/2" thick) because I had 1/2 lean half full fat and I knew some would cook away. It worked great! The family loved it! I'm 2 for 2 in the last week with this recipe and the brown sugar salmon. THANK YOU!!! :) XOXO ~Erin

Thanks Erin! Glad you enjoyed it - it's a definite favorite in our house that's for sure. Sweet chili sauce would be very similar to Tiger Sauce which is pretty much really just a sweet hot sauce. It's just a nice spicy sweet addition but could be eliminated or simply substituted with regular hot sauce. Thanks again for taking the time to comment too!!

I made these tonight on a whim... they are the BEST hamburger steaks I have ever made. I didn't have the Tiger Sauce, I used chili sauce and hot sauce combined to equal the amount. I did add about 1/4 cup of dried breadcrumbs to my meat mixture. Awesome recipe!! Thank you so much!

to add a little bam you could use some Worcestershire sauce an some mushrooms in the gravy too.just the way it is though makes my mouth water with a big scoop of smashed taters with that gravy all over it!!! man

I know Jim, it's so good isn't it? I actually do the Worcestershire sauce and mushrooms with my salisbury steaks. The recipe is here on the site, check it out sometime. You're right it is a great match!

Hi Angie! It will be a bit of a different flavor profile - a regular red hot pepper sauce would be more fitting here - Pickapeppa is a little stronger & more robust, but you're only use a teaspoon for a little flavor punch so I think that it'd be good! You can also leave it out if you'd rather & the hamburger steak will be awesome without it. Enjoy!!

I just found your website and am loving all the recipes. The pictures and steps you offer simplify for a novice and are just a good reminder for those of us who have cooked for many years. Your Chicken Fried Steak looked sooooo goood. Thank you for offering a wonderful website.

Thank you for offering such a comprehensive website with delicious recipes. This recipe and the one for chicken fried steak are good, comforting foods that bring back memories of growing up in Texas. Thank you!

I'm making this recipe right now as I type this. Quick question - I'm a bit unclear as to if you fully cook the patties in the beginning or *only* brown the outside. We just browned both sides per your instructions and now they're simmering in the gravy. About ten minutes into the simmer, I noticed red blood from the partially cooked beef floating in the gravy. :( Kinda freaks me out. Is this normal?

Hi Carly! I'm sorry if my instructions weren't very clear. No, you aren't fully cooking the patties, only browning them to get them started cooking, so make sure your pan is hot so that there is a good sear on them. Then you remove them and set aside on a plate while you make the gravy. Once you return them to the gravy you should turn them to coat them with the gravy, then cover the skillet so that they finish cooking. Did you do all of those steps? Finishing them in the gravy helps to keep the patties nice and tender while they finish cooking. If you notice the juices pooling on top, simply turn them.

You could certainly fully cook the patties rather than just searing them before returning them to the gravy, but then you wouldn't want to do much more than simply turn them and then serve them. It wouldn't have time to absorb the flavor from the gravy but it should still be tasty! I hope that helps.

I'm sorry, I sure don't! I can tell you that there can be some adjustments made to the recipe according to what dietary plan you are following to make it more diet friendly. A free site that I have used before when dieting is at myfitnesspal.com You can enter recipes and get the nutritional information which will help you to figure out ways to adjust some of your favorite recipes too! Best of luck with your diet.

Wow! I never really like Salisbury Steak, but this was delicious. I made it tonight and basically eyed all the seasonings and it turned out wonderful. Thank you for adding another item in my family's dinner menu rotation!

Hi! I'm afraid I don't quite understand the question. All of the information at the top of the post is basically a step by step tutorial just to give a visual of the preparation steps. The actual recipe with ingredients, amounts and instrutions, is what is located at the very bottom of the post. Hope that helps!

Hi Mary, just wanted to tell you thank you for this recipe. Made it for supper the other nite, and, I was amazed at how good the burgers tasted, as well as the gravy, simmered it about 45 min., fantastic. Had enough for leftovers next nite, and it was just as good as the nite before. I am glad I found your site.

I've made this a couple of times, and I have doubled up on the gravy for our Potatos. This is going in our family RECIPE book. I have a disease called Lupus so I am writing my daughters all the recipes of the dinners I have good in past times. Each meal comes with a story either about the meal or a funny memory. Like the first time I made this it was very bland then I looked and noticed I forgot the season salt.I had a dinner party once and made our families famous mushroom gravy portk chops and I messed it all up, our friends ate the entire meal, and so did my husband and I and once we were drinking we all laughted and said THAT WAS SOOOO NASTY. Now at first I just thought it was me because my taste buds were messed up from medications, guess not. haha

What a treasure that recipe book will be!! I've had my fair share of cooking challenges that's for sure. Just ask my baby brother & sister about the "spanish rice" I tried to make them eat when mama was in the hospital with a miscarriage! That was awful!! I've improved a bit since then LOL!

Not at all Joyce! The only issue you may run into is that you need a tight fitting lid so you may have to try and cover it with a few layers of aluminum foil for the last step since most cast iron lids have a pouring spout on both sides.

You're welcome Brittany & thank you so much for the sweet uplifting message! Funny because people often think of pregnant women craving odd things or sweet things, but I was the same way as you. I craved things like this - meat and meals!!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

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